Mistaken Identity
by Danish Pastry 28
Summary: Unfinished and on an indefinate hiatus see my profile for more details 18.02.2006
1. Accidental Encounters

**Mistaken Identity**

**(A/N):** This is a Dramione fan fic though it might take a few chapters to get there. This is my first fan fic so all support, suggestions and constructive criticism will be appreciated. **No Flames Please If You Don't Like It You Don't Have To Read. This is Rated M for possible scenes in future chapters, however it is only a T at the moment. I will warn readers when the story develops into an M. **

**Disclaimer:** Everything you recognise belongs to J.K Rowling and whoever holds her copyrights. This disclaimer is for the entire story and I will probably not repeat it.

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**Chapter 1: Accidental Encounters**

Hermione Granger had changed over the summer. Anyone who had known her in her sixth year and saw her now would quickly come to the conclusion that she was a late bloomer. For over the past few months she had definitely bloomed. Unlike most girls however Hermione had not noticed the change except that her robes had become exceedingly tight up top. Hermione, clever as she was had not realised that this meant she had filled out quite pleasingly, instead she assumed she had put a bit too much weight staying home for once and assumed she would shed the weight as soon as she got back to Hogwarts. She hadn't noticed that her stomach had stayed as flat and naturally toned as ever. She did however realise that she needed new robes and had left her parents at Gringotts Wizarding Bank changing their Muggle money into Galleons, so she could start shopping and search for her friends.

Hermione was oblivious to the appreciative looks and jealous glances she got from fellow sixth and seventh years at Hogwarts. Hermione Granger had become drop dead gorgeous over the length of a summer holiday. Many girls, usually Slytherins, on seeing her, bitchily remarked to their friends that she was so clever that she had probably found some way to change her appearance. Her figure was not the only thing about her that had changed. Over the summer her hair had changed from her usual mousey, bushy brown into a wavy, soft black. Hermione had worriedly watched this change taking place slowly as if a charm had been wearing off as it lost its power. Only she had never charmed her hair and neither of her parents had black hair. She had become so worried about the sudden change that she had contacted Professor Dumbledore about it, only to be told not to worry about it. Her hair was left open tumbling in soft waves half way down her back, soft curls framing her face as she walked down Diagon Alley in search of her best friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.

As she walked she noticed the changes that had taken place in Diagon Alley since the last time she had been here. As usual the alley was packed with witches and wizards of all ages, generally buying school supplies for themselves or their children. In the distance Hermione could see a crowd of people huddled together as if queuing up, she had seen a similar queue of people last year and knew instinctively that it was for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, the joke shop run buy Ron's brothers Fred and George. During the last year the prefects had had a much harder time controlling the younger years as Fred and George came up with new and in Hermione's mind; more annoying inventions which were harder to remove than they had been last year. Their latest inventions were so numerous that Filch had a hard time keeping up with the items and trying to ban them. Towards the end of the last school year Filch had given in and banned all items bought at Weasely's Wizard Wheezes. This did nothing to stop the use of the Skiving Snack boxes though which still sold out in the hundreds every term and were still as undetectable as ever. In fact Hermione remembered how useful they were in helping her, Ron and Harry to get out of a lesson last year as they prepared for their next battle with Voldemort.

Hermione thought about the events of the summer that was drawing to a close around her and found that hers had been quite uneventful compared to previous years. For one she had never felt so far away from the action, stuck at home with her parents instead of at number twelve Grimauld Place with Ron and Harry. Her parents had insisted that she came home after the first week of the summer as they had missed her over the last few years and were seeing less of her than ever before. Guiltily Hermione had agreed and spent quality time as it were with her parents, however she couldn't help feeling slightly resentful and jealous of Harry and Ron knowing what was going on and her not.

She finally understood what had made Harry so angry the summer after fourth year as she too had been receiving tantalizing letters from Ron hinting at what was happening but revealing nothing. Harry's letters were different and although they gave her no insight in to what was happening they weren't filled with annoying hints, Hermione strongly suspected that this was due to his own experience in receiving letters. Hermione could see that from what she remembered of the letters she had sent Harry the summer before fifth year had looked a lot more like Ron's letter, unknowingly cruel.

Hermione was snapped out of her reverie by a loud voice in the distance. Thinking it might be Harry or one of the Weasleys Hermione quickly looked behind her but all she could see was a crowd of people and she couldn't see for sure where or who the voice was coming from. She shrugged to herself and continued walking. As she continued the voice seemed to be getting louder and nearer but she still couldn't make out what it was saying. Suddenly the booming voice was directly behind her. "Stop Sophia!" The voice was commanding, deep and definitely male, panting from running with a hint of an accent that Hermione couldn't place. She turned around to see who the man was calling to just as the man had put out an arm to stop Hermione the force of the man's running and Hermione's sudden turn sent both toppling to the ground. The man sat up quickly two beefy men suddenly showing up behind him and standing on either side reminding her distinctly of the way Malfoy stood between Crabby and Goyle. The man reached down a hand to help her up and she kept her face down turned as she brushed off her denim skirt.

"Sorry Sophia, I didn't mean to push you over but I did ask you to stop." The man said, confusing Hermione, why was this man she did not know referring to her as Sophia and acting as if they knew each other she looked up at the man shocked and saw the man give out a gasp. The man was in his early to mid twenties. His hair was dark brown and he had ice blue eyes that were extremely familiar yet at that moment she could not place where she had seen them before. He was a good head or so taller than her and quite well built. He was heavy too, this much she knew from her aching muscles after falling over. She still didn't have a clue as to who the man was.

"Oh, Dear Lord, I am ever so sorry I have the wrong person," the man said still looking intently at Hermione, he paled then smiled as if he had just realised something, "and then again maybe I don't, you aren't Sophia, you are way too young but you look too much like the two of them to not at least be related." He looked at Hermione again and must have realised how startled she was. "What is your name?" the man asked, still watching Hermione. Under his constant gaze she began to feel extremely self conscious. "Hermione Granger," she replied feeling almost none of the reported Gryffindor bravery as the ice blue eyes filled with an emotion she could not name was looking into her eyes as if searching her very soul.

The man smiled, "Oh I see they thought a simple name change would keep them hidden, well they were mistaken!" he stated happily. "You are here with your parents, yes?" the man asked a triumphant gleam coming into him eyes as she nodded. "Take me to them!" he demanded waiting for her expectantly to lead the way. Something in his stance made Hermione snap. _Who did this man think he was to command her to take him to her parents when he hadn't had the decency to introduce himself or even say please? The nerve of some people._ All the tension she had been feeling suddenly rushed into her head as she let the pompous stranger have it.

"Who the hell do you think you are to order me around?" she asked her voice deep and angry. "What in the world makes you think I'm going to take you anywhere, I don't even know who you are? And out of curiosity, have you never been taught manners and how to use the words, 'please' and 'thank you,' because if you haven't you need to realise that you are a grown man and it is about time you learnt. Common courtesy can get you further in this life than flashing your money, and threatening people with your body guards you pompous fool." Hermione's ranting came to a sudden stop as she realised what she was doing. She was shouting at a random stranger in the middle of Diagon Alley because he hadn't said 'please' _oh dear lord what had gotten into her_. Luckily not many people had noticed the exchange and for that she was grateful, it did not create a good impression for new students if the head girl was seen shouting at people in public.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. …"

"Labello," the man filled in as the name rang a bell somewhere in Hermione's mind. "Right, Mr. Labello, I don't know what came over me, I have no excuse for shouting at you like that, and I hope you will accept my apology." To Hermione's surprise the man was grinning.

"You are just like her, she used to blow up as well when she was extremely stressed then apologise for about an hour even if you said it was okay. I can still remember them you know, thing is that when I last saw them they were around your age and that's why I thought you were her."

The man was still not making any sense. "Who did you think I was, Mr. Labello?" she asked curious as to who he kept referring to as she and them.

"I thought you were Sophia, my sister in law, well your mother might be an easier way to put it."

"I'm sorry sir but my mother's name is not Sophia, her name is Alice," Hermione stated clearly confused.

"As a said, a simple name change is not enough to fool me, I might not have seen any of you for over eighteen years but I never forget a face, and you my dear have your mother's face and hair and your father's eyes, emerald green they were, just like yours, there is no doubt about it."

"Mr. Labello, I…" She began only to be cut off by the man.

"No Dear, you should call me Uncle Robert."

"Mr. Labello, I will not start calling a complete stranger my uncle and for your information my parents were my age long before you were even born, they started late in life and I was their miracle baby. Both have brown eyes like me, you need your eyes checked, forI have never had green eyes and I never will, my mother's hair is brown not black." Leaving out that it was only recently her hair had changed to a different shade from her mothers'.

Robert Labello snapped his fingers and one of his bodyguards immediately came forward. "Tell me Rupert what colour is her eyes?"

"Green, sir," the man stated immediately.

"Well, Hermione I would suggest that is you need more proof we should ask someone in the crowd, but believe me, not one of them are going to say your eyes are brown."

Hermione suddenly realised that something else must have changed, for she had believed the body guard's answer. The only conclusion was that her eyes had changed in colour just like her hair.

The man's voice broke through her thoughts. "Would you _please_ take me to your parents now, I have been searching for them for almost eighteen years?"

Hermione nodded, none of this was making any sense, the man's descriptions of her parents were all wrong, but she decided she would let him figure that out for himself. She saw her parents walking down the steps of Gringotts and approached them with the three men in tow.

Mum, Dad this is Mr. Labello, he claims he knows you under different names." As she expected her parents looked blankly at the man then back to her. Finally her father stuck out a hand to shake the man's hand and said "I'm sorry but I don't believe I have met you before my name is Terry Granger." Robert Labello looked at the man in horror then pulled out his wand. Hermione quickly pulled out her wand to ready to defend her parents if he attacked.

"What are you thinking Mr. Labello, they are Muggles!" Hermione screamed at the man. But the man simply said, "We shall see, and don't worry I wont hurt them."

He started muttering countless revealing spells and gave a frustrated growl when none of them changed the Grangers' appearances.

"Oh no," the man muttered to himself, surprising Hermione, "What if…Hermione would you mind if I carried out a paternity test, I mean your sure these are your parents so it shouldn't really matter should it and all I need is two drops of your blood." Hermione was beyond shocked, she realised that now was the time to leave and quickly but regardless of what her brain said her feet would simply not move. Instead she held out her finger. The man pricked my hand with a needle he conjured up and said the spell. "Recthum Evadanu." The two droplets of blood flew into the air but instead of hitting her parents like it was meant to they stayed in the air. One droplet hovered close to Mr. Labello signifying that they were related but were not father and daughter.

Hermione's heart pounded in her ears. 'What they hell was going on!' she thought, 'If the Grangers were not her parents then who were?' She looked at the man confused.

"So you are my Uncle," she stated dumbfounded. "Who were my parents?" she asked not really wanting to know, but trying to distract herself from the feeling of wanting to throw up.

At this point the Mrs. Granger interjected sounding hurt, "We are of course honey, I remember the night I gave birth to you very well, you were our miracle baby." But Hermione knew that the paternity test that Mr. Labello had just performed was the most accurate paternity test in the Wizarding world. Hermione looked at Mr. Labello who muttered, 'Implanted memories.' Hermione felt like crying, her whole world was breaking down around her, but somehow the tears weren't coming.

"Your father, my brother was Alexander Labello and your mother was Sophia Labello they were married for less than a year when they went missing, it was reported that your mother had delivered a still born child and they had disappeared soon after your birth. Sophia was originally a Karenna before shemarried my brother. Maybe you can tell but we originated in Italy. Your mother and father were next in line to the throne when they disappeared, and I had to take their place, but now that we have found you there is no reason why you can't take over. You are the rightful heir." The man stopped seeing Hermione's overwhelmed appearance.

"Heir?" she asked confused, "What throne?"

"The Throne of Italy of course, it is rightfully yours." Suddenly Hermione realised why the name Labello had rung alarm bells in her head. They were one of the purest blooded families in Europe followed by the Malfoys and Blacks. However they were not known to have any dealings in the dark arts and were known to have ruled the Italian people; magical and non-magical fairly, for many hundreds of years. _She was the heir to the throne of Italy!_ With her heart beating violently Hermione was vaguely aware or a familiar voice calling her name, before her vision clouded into emptiness.

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**(A/N): **I am not sure if Italy has a Royal Family, but I don't think it does, and I'm really sorry if the names don't sound very ItalianI'm using creative licence here, don't flame. Please Please review and tell me what you think. If you see any spelling or gramatical errors please feel free to point them out as I don't have a Beta. Does anyone know how to get one? 


	2. Silent Slumber

**(A/N):** I hope you liked the last chapter. Thanks for the reviews. Here is the next instalment.

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Chapter 2: Silent Slumber

Draco Malfoy watched from outside Flourish & Blotts as a girl with black hair stood talking to a man in a suit with two beefy men behind him. Next to the girl stood an old man and woman and she looked like she was trying to protect them as the man took out his wand. They were standing near Gringotts, too far away for Draco to see what was happening clearly, or even who they were. Behind him talking to an old school friend stood Lucius Malfoy. The two had been talking to each other for a long time and Draco was bored, but he could not leave the whole purpose of the trip to Diagon Alley had been for Draco to meet some relative of theirs, an Italian Royal who Draco was to have the pleasure of succeeding to the throne as the man as of yet had no heir, and did not want to adopt in to the family and destroy the purity of their bloodline which was claimed as the purest in Europe.

His father had stopped speaking to the man and was saying goodbye. "Hurry boy, don't dawdle, we will be late and a Malfoy is never late." Lucius rushed forward his son following quickly behind, they did not run however as a Malfoy never ran in public, well at least Lucius didn't. They were on their way to the Leaky Cauldron where Lucius had arranged to the Italian royal as they passed the group standing at the bottom of the Gringotts stairs Draco took a good look at the people as did Lucius, the girl looked dazed and pale, Draco thought she looked oddly familiar but Draco couldn't place where he had seen her before. Suddenly a voice called out 'Hermione,' startled Draco looked up to see Harry Potter running towards them followed by the Weaselette that Draco had forgotten the name of. Lucius had stopped suddenly and was looking intently at the people on the stairs, Draco followed his gaze to see the girl with the black hair close her eyes and sway for a moment before she started her descent to the floor. Harry ran towards the girl just as she was caught by the man in the suit.

Lucius began to walk towards the man, "Robert is that you?" Form the sound of his father's voice Draco could tell that the man had changed a lot since they had last met. Still holding the girl who had fainted into his arms he turned and faced them. "Ah, Lucius, you haven't changed at all, I'm very sorry but it does appear that I will be late for out meeting, and the matter which we needed to discuss is no longer an issue I have found the rightful heir. Look at her Lucius," the man said indicating the girl in his arms, "Do you recognise her?"

Lucius Malfoy frowned and tried to remember, her face seemed extremely familiar, quite suddenly a name came into his mind or rather two but one of the names was so preposterous he pushed away the thought, the hair colour was all wrong for it to be the Granger girl. "Am I mistaken in thinking she resembles Sophia?"

The man nodded in delight, Lucius had also recognised her and that meant that he was not mistaken in her identity, Lucius had been old enough at the time of his brother's marriage to remember what Sophia had looked like clearly. Harry and Ginny stood by looking confused and worried, as did the Grangers, Harry approached them and tried to ask them what was wrong, but they looked shocked and were unable to answer. Mr. Granger managed to shrug, while opening and closing his mouth repeatedly but emitting no sounds.

"But she is too young!" Lucius stated coming to the same conclusion as Robert had earlier.

"Indeed, I believe this girl is her daughter, I don't think Sophia actually had a miscarriage, I think they just hid the child. In fact I carried out a paternity test just now and we have proved that I am her Uncle, there is no doubt about it."

"What's her name?" Lucius asked, slightly put out that his son would not be taking over the as the King of Italy. However he had quickly realised that if he worked fast they would be able come to arrangement that pleased both parties suitably, after all they were united in a similar aim; maintaining blood purity.

Draco was staring at Muggles who were giving Potter blank looks, then at the girl still being held upright the man. 'What were they doing here?' he wondered not really paying attention to his father's conversation with the man.

"Her name at the moment is Hermione Granger," on hearing the name Draco looked up startled, "but I believe her parents were planning to call her Isabelle Marie Labello, well at least it's the name on the death certificate and the grave stone."

'Oh crap,' thought Draco, 'That's Granger,' he looked again at the collapsed figure taking in her features, 'No wonder she looked so familiar.'

Draco realised the Muggles must have been Granger's parents and standing in front of him talking to his father was the girl's uncle, the King of Italy, who had the purest blood in Europe and maybe even the world and he was saying that Granger was his niece. The thought made him smirk, but then realisation dawned on him. Those Muggles weren't part of the Italian royal family, which could only mean one thing; Granger was a Pureblood, which was the only way Granger could be related to the Italian royal family. Granger wasn't a Granger she was a Labello. 'No wonder the girl fainted,' thought Draco, as he himself felt dazed by the overload of information.

"Come Lucius, she will need to lie down after the news she has just received, we should at least take her to the Leaky Cauldron," he the turned to the Grangers, "Mr. and Mrs. Granger, please come with us, we need to resuscitate her." He turned and pointed his wand at Hermione and muttered 'Mobilicorpus' levitating her body to follow them through the surging crowds towards the Leaky Cauldron. They were followed by the Malfoys, the Grangers and Harry and Ginny. They got curious looks from the people in the inn as they went inside and waited patiently for Rupert, one of Robert Labello's bodyguards to arrange a room with Tom the owner.

Inside the best roomat the inn Hermione was quickly laid down, Mrs. Granger tucked her into the bed, before kissing her forehead and stepping aside for her newfound Uncle to revive her. The man pointed his wand at Hermione's chest and said "Ennervate." The girl on the bed gasped and started to breathe as is she had been suffocated for the last ten minutes. Surrounding her were worried faces, except for the Malfoys who were both looking at her with some newfound interest, her uncle who looked blissful and the two bodyguards who looked as if they had been trained not to show emotion. Her parents did not look happy in fact they looked as if they were having a hard time believing what had happened and Hermione could not blame them after all they had had fake memories of giving birth to her implanted into their brains so they would love her unconditionally, in their minds she was theirs, they remembered the night that she had come into their lives.

The room was still watching her for a reaction of some sort but she didn't know what to say or feel. She just felt numb; her whole life had just crumbled around her. Suddenly from across the room there was a gasp as Ginny looked at her intently. "Hermione you are starting to look like Harry, the hair and the eyes, you look like brother and sister or something." At this her uncle laughed, and said, "Of course dear they are related after all, second cousins I do believe." At this comment the room went silent and both Hermione and Harry stared at the man incredulously. The man simply laughed again. "Surely you must both know that all pureblood families were connected to each other in some way or other?" Hermione nodded, frowning at being referred to as a pureblood, the very idea was strange to her as she had spent most of the last six years being called a Mudblood by two of the men sitting in that very room.

"Well Harry's Grandfather on his dad's side was the brother of your Grandmother on your Mum's side. That's where the colour of your hair comes from, but I believe the green eyes are from your dad, as I've been told that young Mister Potter here inherited his eyes from his mum. The Potters' were a highly regarded pureblood family even before the appearance of Harry, but the sole survivor of their blood line, yes you Harry, is not a pureblood because James married a muggleborn. But that doesn't mean you two aren't related, yes I believe I am right in saying you two are second cousins." At the far side of the room Draco and Lucius were talking in heated whispers. "Does that mean I'm related to Potter and Granger too?" Draco asked concerned after hearing the conversation between the royal and the two teenagers. "Of course Draco, don't ask silly questions, though I will tell you that you aren't very close to them in blood line terms. Us Malfoys are related to Sophia's girl through Robert and Alexander, the girl's father.

I believe one of their Great Uncles married a Malfoy, one of the rare girls in the family ands due to the lack of suitable purebloods to marry I believe there were quite a few marriages between that strand of the family. In fact son if you look at Robert you will notice that he has the Malfoy eyes."

"Why did they give me up?" Hermione's question rang out through the room interrupting the conversations that were going on, and was directed towards her uncle. The man paused at looked at her as if judging whether she could handle the truth. he had heard of this girl before, even papers in Italy had picked up on the amount of magical talent this girl was reported to have, yet he had not recognised her earlier as her face had appeared much younger and her eyes and hair had been different to what they were now. If only he had recognised her earlier he had believed himself to be the only remaining Labello for so many years, with no immediate family, now he had a niece. He took a deep breath and began his tale.

"Your mother and father were the most powerful witch and wizard this world had seen for almost a century. They fought for the light side and there were many who sought their destruction. They were part of a group of young witches and wizards watched closely by governments all over the world. Harry, I'm sure you know that your parents and their two best friends were also part of this group. They were referred to as the wizards of the new age. Your parents were two of the most powerful and obviously when they announced that they were expecting a child, there was uproar. You were expected to be one of the most powerful children ever conceived and the world was filled with rumours that Voldemort was planning an attack to capture you and use you to aid the dark side." At the mention of the name Lucius hissed while Ginny shook imperceptibly only to have her hand held by Harry.

The man continued, "I believe that is why they did what they did. It is my belief that they cast charms on you to change you appearance like your hair and eyes and then gave you to the Grangers after altering their memories enough for them to believe that you were really theirs. They claimed that you were dead and there is a coffin buried under your real name at the Royal cemetery. Both your parents disappeared soon after the service yet wee know nothing of their whereabouts, and the world believes I am the last Labello and being unable to conceive children means that I was expected to be the end of our bloodline." He smiled for the for first time since he had started talking, "Now that I have found you we know that is not true the Labello line will continue to live."

All around the room mouths were open as they started at the man in shock. When Hermione saw Lucius watching her uncle intently his smirk firmly in place she snapped to her senses, was her uncle really as dense as to reveal that much information to a known Death Eater, especially Voldemort's right hand man. Robert watched his niece with interest and when she looked into his eyes she felt as if they were piercing her soul. "Yes, Hermione I can imagine what you are thinking, there is however nothing to worry about," the man said reading her mind as he turned to Lucius Malfoy and lifted his wand and said one word, "Obliviate." Lucius' face took on a dazed expression and her uncle simply said "We should wake Hermione soon," making it seem as if the conversation had never happened.

Hermione however was still worried, she didn't trust Draco either. He was sitting there with a slightly stunned expression on his face, having watched what the royal had done to his father. Robert turned to the young man, who shuddered when he noticed how the similar to his own eyes the man's were. Robert removed his piercing glare and turned to Hermione. "Don't worry, he can be trusted, he won't mention what happened inside this room to anyone." On hearing this Hermione frowned, she had never heard anyone refer to her worst enemy as someone who could be trusted. However Hermione felt she had no choice but agree with her uncle after all he was obviously a leglimens and would not have said Malfoy could be trusted if he had no reason to.

The dazed expression on Lucius' face quickly faded and Hermione laid back down with her uncle standing over her. "Ah, your awake," he boomed, "you gave us quite a fright there, love." Hermione sat up once again to see her mother crying her heart out into her father's shoulder and all she wanted was for her father to hug her too and to make this nightmare go away just like he did when she was a girl. Yet she knew that was no longer a possibility. However much they loved her, this had to be taking its toll on them too. She was their miracle baby; her parents were told that they could never have children when she came along. She remembered how her mother used to tell her stories about the weird food she had craved when she was pregnant and the story of her birth, but it was nothing but lies. Lies her biological parents had implanted to keep her safe.

But right now she didn't feel safe at all; her life wasn't what she had believed it to be, and all the security she had once felt started to drain away as a single tear slipped down her cheek unseen by almost everyone.

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**(A/N):** Well please tell me what you think. Do you like it? Review, Review, Review


	3. Mutual Understanding

**(A/N):** Sorry for the long wait, I have been a bit busy. I have also decided that I will probably update every weekend at the minimum I will probably be too busy to update during the week. I will also warn you that I have extremely important exams soon and so if I disappear suddenly don't be surprised, just know that I intent to finish this so I will be back. So here is the next chapter...ENJOY!

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**Chapter Three: Mutual Understanding**

Hermione quickly settled herself into an empty compartment. She was early and she liked it this way, the station was empty and silent. Perfect if someone wanted to think. But that was something Hermione could not do. Every time she tried to think her head filled with a deafening roar until she gave up. No, Hermione liked it quiet because it meant she had some precious time left before she had to face her best friends again. She had never in her life dreaded seeing her friends but that was in the past. They had been there, they knew. So it wasn't as if she could hide it from them, or even escape their pitying glances. No one seemed to understand that she didn't want to talk about it, not even Harry. She was meant to go to Grimauld Place to stay with Harry and the Weasleys. She had spent most of her summer at home and they could see that she was getting bored. But after seeing Ron Hermione had changed her mind. He was talking to her as if being hidden away by her parents was her fault and that the fact that she hadn't realised was also apparently her fault.

She wasn't in the mood to handle him or anything else so she politely told everyone that she had changed her plans and had gone home. Now thinking about it she didn't know whether she had made the right choice. Her parents unsurprisingly had distanced themselves from her as much as possible. Hermione hadn't been upset at this; she had expected it in truth. They had to come to terms with the fact that the child they remembered giving birth to was not their own, just an implanted memory. They must have felt tricked and yet she knew that they loved her, how could they not when they thought they had brought her up from day one. Hermione too had been willing to stay away from them for a while; she had to come to terms with the fact that she was in fact the daughter of two people she had never met. She was related to her best friend and probably every other pureblood she knew in one way or another. Worse than all of that was the fact that she was a royal. She was the rightful heir to the throne of Italy and her uncle the king at the moment only seemed too happy to move aside for her and his willingness did nothing to settle her doubts.

Hermione was not gullible; she knew not to take everything at face value. No she had seen the spell herself to know that it had indeed proved that the Grangers were not her biological parents. But she also knew that even powerful things could be hoodwinked... she had seen the goblet of fire produce four contestants when only it should have produced thee because it had been hoodwinked by a powerful wizard. So she knew that even though she had seen the spell for herself she could not trust it. Proving whether or not the Grangers were her parents had been her aim over the last week of the holidays. She had done various spells and made several potions and it was only when all the results showed that the blood seeker spell her uncle had performed was right did she stop. She was indeed a Labello, and with that came so many responsibilities and problems.

Her first problem was the body guard standing watch outside her compartment. She was too rich for words and a royal; there would be enough people who wanted to kill her. Her uncle had made her take the bodyguard with her the day they met and that was that. Where ever she went a silent figure followed two paces behind, and this was how her life would be from now until she died. Her uncle seemed to be a nice man, at least that was her first impression, but she knew so little about him. You couldn't learn how a person was inside from a book. That meant that she would have to spend time with her Uncle in order to find out if she could trust him. He had however realised that she would need time to get used to this discovery and had said that she would not have visit Italy until Christmas so she could get used to the idea. What could she do but agree she knew that even a few months was something she should feel grateful for. She knew that he was technically her actual legal guardian and if he had wanted he could have refused to let her sit her final year and taken her to Italy straight away, but he hadn't and that showed that he was at least trying to ease her into her eventual fate.

There was a knock at the door. Hermione looked up to see her bodyguard watching her.

"Miss Labello, there is a young man to see you." Hermione had gotten used to this, even her parents, well the Grangers, had to get past the bodyguard. Even the presence of the bodyguard made her feel as if she was under the threat of constant attack. At first it had simply annoyed her, but now she was beginning to realise that it was vital, because she was indeed under the threat of constant attack, just like Harry. Kingsley Shacklebolt had been Harry's guard that day and had of course been in the room when her uncle had broken the news. His presence meant that the order had a full report of everything that was said and done.

"Who is it, Rupert?" She had a ball of nervous energy in the pit of her stomach and of course she knew who it was. He had after all said young man not a group of people.

"He says his name is Draco Malfoy, Miss," she nodded her head, though she knew not whether it was in acceptance of who was outside or because she had been proved right when she thought it was Malfoy. But her guard took it as her allowing the young man entry and stood aside to let the man through.

Malfoy looked at the guard and said, "Leave us." His voice was commanding but the guard did not blink or even move. The guard looked from Malfoy to Hermione, she nodded in defeat, and she had known this would happen eventually. The guard bowed and left.

"What do you want Malfoy?" she asked making him spin to face her.

"Well Isabelle, I needed to talk to you," the girl flinched visibly at the name.

"Malfoy, don't call…" but she stopped; she couldn't get him to call her Granger, or Mud blood, because she wasn't either of those. She didn't want him to call her Labello, because then everyone would realise what had happened and she didn't want that. The only thing her uncle had demanded was that she changed her name. Lucius Malfoy now knew of her existence, although he had had his memory wiped as to her parent's reasons for giving her away, and who they had worked for before they died. She had remembered reading somewhere that during the wars Italy had been neutral, but that was wrong as her parents had worked for the light in secret. He was smirking at her.

"What do you want?" she asked, fighting to control her anger.

"I want to talk to you." He looked at her as if taking in all the changes. "Your skinis tanned." She looked down at her hands and they now had a faint olive tint that she presumed was due to her Italian heritage.

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked fighting the urge to tell him to leave as she would have done in the past.

"You, your Highness." She looked up at him in shock, expecting to see a smirk on his face but there was none, and his tone had been serious. Indeed, Malfoy had bowed his head a little at the words. She wondered for a moment what he was playing at before realisation struck. She was of course pureblood royalty; her line was the purest around. The Labello family did not rule over the world but she was still considered to be royalty much in the same way Prince William would be when he went abroad.

She stuttered, "I, I, but, no." She wanted scream at him to stop, but she couldn't, she had not had her coronation yet but she had been royalty since the day she was born and arguing with Malfoy was pointless. She stopped and took a deep breath.

"What about me Malfoy?" She all but growled. He smirked at her again.

"Well, I presume you are head girl and as such we need to discuss what we will say to the prefects in the meeting, it was in the letter your Highness." Now she knew he was doing it on purpose just to annoy her, so she decided to ignore him. He was of course right, they did need to discuss what to say to the prefects, and of course it had been in the letter she had received during the summer informing her that she was head girl, the one she had forgotten about due to the events at the end of summer. Malfoy wanted to talk about what to say to the prefects, that meant he was head boy, the horror of this though hit her like a ton of bricks. She looked up at him once again, startled. It was well known that head boy and girl had their own quarters. It was one of the many perks of the job that Percy had refused to stop talking about. Head boy and girl had to share a common room and bathroom and each had their own rooms.

"Yes, Isabelle, I am the head boy." He was of course the first to actually call her by that name, but she preferred Isabelle to your Highness, so she did not comment on it, instead she nodded at him and drew out a paper and pen from her bag, read to make notes.

They managed to decide that they would draw up proper schedules for the patrolling once they got to Hogwarts, but until that was done each house prefect would be required to patrol twice a week, once before curfew and once after as well as one hour on an alternate weekend. They managed to assign prefects times and days which they could sort out among themselves if problems should arise. The head boy and girl of course where required to patrol alone for half an hour after curfew on alternate weekdays and together for and hour after curfew on the weekend. Once they were finished Malfoy stood to leave, he got to the door before he turned around once again to face her.

"Listen Gra- Isabelle, I know this isn't easy for you, and I know you can't forgive me for all the things I have said to you all these years, but I am sorry, I can't say I like you, but I can see now that you didn't deserve to be called a mudblood, and we have to work together, for the whole year, Isabelle. What do you say to a truce?"

She stared at him speechless, Malfoy wanted a truce? Then she realised what he meant, she would not survive the year with him in close range if she had to fight every time she saw him. She nodded her head in agreement and he looked at her slightly surprised as if he had been expecting her to say no. he smirked at her and went to the door. "Well I better go then." He stated, as he opened the door and left.

It was then that Hermione realised that the level of noise coming from outside had increased drastically. Malfoy had barely been gone a few minutes when there was another knock on the door.

"Miss Labello, there is a Harry Potter, and Ron and Ginny Weasley to see you," Hermione nodded she could not delay the inevitable any longer. "Let them in," she said with a sigh.

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Draco had just left Hermione's compartment to see Potter and the two Weasleys standing outside arguing with her bodyguard.

"We want to see her," that was Pot-head.

"She is in the middle of a meeting; you can go in when she is finished." The Bodyguard replied.

"Could you tell her we are here?" the youngest weasel asked. But the guard shook his head.

"Listen, we are her friends, she would like to know we are here, no one she is meeting can be more important than us." That was the Weasel.

"Are you sure about that?" Draco asked in a drawl from the closed door of the compartment a smirk on his face.

The three looked at him shocked.

"Was this who she had such an important meeting with?" Pot-head asked while the Weasel came closer as if he wanted to hit him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Weasel, I am the Head Boy, I wouldn't bother going in there if I were you, Isabelle, had she been allowed her biological parents who have been brought up as a girl of class and standards, something you are not or ever will be associated with Weasel, still it's not too late for her to re-evaluate her circumstances, I doubt it will be too long before she tells you too stay away for fear of being contaminated by the diseases you have picked up from the dustbin you call a home." With this he walked casually away froma red facedWeaselette anda Weasel being held back by Scar face.

Once he reached his compartment he sat down and sent his minions A.K.A Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson to tell a few important Slytherins from each year to meet him in his compartment. He was setting his father's plan in motion. Of course he had not filled his father in on what else he had learned before his memory had been wiped and his father knowing nothing of it had not asked. His father of course knew who Granger had turned out to be and that she was taking the throne instead of Draco, and although he had been disappointed at the news, he had for once seen the positives. Even if Draco wasn't on the throne now he could be, all that was needed were some 'I dos'. For this they needed trust and mutual respect. This was where Step 1 came in. he had to earn her trust and respect and make it look like he respected her.

The Slytherins were gathered in the compartment and Draco stood on the seats towering over the occupants. They were silent, waiting in anticipation.

"I have an announcement to make about Granger," the room watched him eagerly expecting him to have come up with a new form of torture. "You will not under ANY circumstances call her a mudblood, you will all bow your heads to her when you enter or leave her presence and refer to her as your highness."

This announcement set off many whispers across the room, but they were quickly quietened when Draco began to speak once again. "You may no longer call her Granger, her name is Labello and she is the rightful heir to the throne of Italy." The latest announcement was met with a startled silence. "You do not have to change the way you treat Pot-head and Weasel, but remember that her Blood is one of the purest on this earth and you will not undermine that." He looked round, meeting the gazes of many of his fellow housemates. "I need you to pass this on to your friends, she does not look as she once did, she now looks as if she if Pot-head's sister, except tanned, do not draw attention to her resemblance to Potter," he said this with an air of distaste. "Today in the great hall, you will ALL stand once she enters and only be seated once she has, this is for always, not just for the feast, and I don't care if you feel stupid or foolish for bowing to someone you have hated for six years, she is to be your Queen and you will treat her as such. Have I made myself clear?" he asked his tone so commanding that no one would have dared to argue even if they wanted to.

As soon as the group had left his compartment Draco had gone to the Prefect meeting. As requested the Slytherin prefects had bowed at Isabelle's entrance and remained standing until she herself had been seated. As she began to speak he noticed that her voice now had a silkier tone that wasn't faked, something else about her had changed. She was unrecognisable as the bushy-haired, bookworm he had known for the last six years. When she introduced herself, she only said her name was Isabelle Labello, and did not proceed to explain that she was also Hermione Granger. A few prefects, especially those from Ravenclaw had given her startled looks, though the remained silent. Hufflepuff prefects on the other hand where looking around focusing on the bodyguard that stood in the corner of the room, as if to see if Hermione was hiding behind him.

Isabelle did not however let the restless prefects disturb her as she explained the rough schedules for patrolling, or the prefects ability to dock points and give out detentions. She even managed to explain the concept of how they would decide on when Hogsmead weekends were, which was a majority vote that could be overrules by the head boy and girl or the heads of the houses. Overall she remained calm, until the end of the meeting when the Slytherin Prefects had all stood and bowed to her, as did a few of the Ravenclaws before leaving quickly. The Gryffindor prefects all left quickly and the first one out was the Weasel, Draco hoped this meant that either she had come to her senses already as to her choice of friends or that what he had said to the Weasel had struck a nerve and that they had argued and fallen out over it. Draco really hoped it was the latter, as he would have loved to be the cause of the Golden Trio's break up.

She turned to Draco her expression furious, "You told them didn't you?" She asked him. He nodded then stood and bowed before he abruptly left the room before she could take out her anger on him. He heard her frustrated howl as he walked down the corridor.

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All too soon they had reached Hogsmead station and after once all first years had safely made it to Hagrid the head boy and girl went to their carriage. Isabelle was first to enter and her bodyguard entered behind her. The bodyguard took the seat opposite to her and when Draco entered, he had no option but to sit next to her as the carriage was designed to hold only two people and was therefore rather small. There was no space left next to the body guard and as he sat next to Isabelle he felt her move as far away from him as possible. He smirked and thought of her reaction to the Slytherins earlier. He couldn't wait to see her face when she entered the Great hall.

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**(A/N):** Well, how was it? Tell me what you think. I love the next chapter so I will post it as soon as it is finished. By the way what do you think of m referring to Hermione as Isabelle, Does it confuse you? I know Draco is a bit OOC but well he is following his father's orders so he has to act like this. 


	4. Plans in Action?

**(A/N):** OK I'm really sorry everyone…but this may be my last update for a while, unless I lose my will power and update anyway (which I probably will), honestly I hope you will forgive me but I have REALLY important exams and next weekend is like my last weekend before my first exam and I have not revised for any of them. Wish me good luck. OK anyway, I was going to update on my birthday which was last Thursday but as usual I had next to no time…oh well. This chapter is my favourite chapter so far. In fact I hated the last chapter because I couldn't wait to write this one so writing that one was like a chore.

Don't worry, I will let you carry on reading in a moment but first I need to give a big shout out to all my wonderful reviewers. I probably would have stopped ages ago if it weren't for all of you. And honestly if I don't update soon just know that I will continue this by the beginning of July when my exams are over, well as a new Dramione fic which I have all planned out called Poster Paint.

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**Chapter Four: Plans in Action?**

Isabelle ignored Draco's outstretched hand as she jumped down from the carriage. Her hasty jump to avoid him caused her to stumble and she felt his arms wrap around her waist to steady her. She squirmed in his grip until her bodyguard pulled him away. She glared at him and straightened out her clothes as the other carriages arrived around them. She walked towards the carriages making sure to keep the bodyguard in between her and Draco. One of their duties as the heads was to make sure none of the students got sidetracked on the way into the great hall. This was a lengthy process as most people ran towards friends they had not seen all summer and had been unable to find on the train, hugging and screaming. (This was mainly the girls though; the boys just nodded their heads slightly in recognition of each other.)

As Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna passed the heads they stopped to converse with the girl, while shooting suspicious glances at Draco who just smirked at them. Finally Isabelle managed to convince them that she was safe as she had Rupert, her bodyguard with her, and they made their way into the hall telling her they would save her a seat. Sharing a compartment with them on the train had been hell for Hermione, all three of her best friends had wanted to know what Draco had been doing there but had been appeased when she had told them about heads' duties. However unlike normal the compartment was filled with an uneasy silence, and bursts of somewhat forced conversation compared to the usual easy chatter. Ginny kept giving her pensive glances as if trying to determine what she was thinking, whereas Harry gave her happy smiles and went on about how glad he was that they were related and that he finally had some real family.

Hermione was happy for him in all her honesty but she couldn't yet feel happy about the connection as thinking of being related to Harry just reminded her that her entire life so far had been a lie and that she was actually Isabelle Marie Labello and not Hermione Jane Granger. She felt like the ground had been stolen from underneath her feat and she was actually falling through space but she hadn't admitted she was falling yet. Because admitting it would mean too many incomprehensible things, things she didn't want to think about just yet. She hoped she would always be Hermione inside regardless of how she would have to act to fulfil her new role in life. Ron however was the one who made her feel that she couldn't be the same and also the person who made her even more determined to not change. Throughout the train ride he had shot her glares, acting as if it was her fault she was born, and had repeatedly started up arguments with her trying to make her deny her heritage, something she felt she couldn't do if she wanted to be true to herself. But Ron did not understand, in fact he wasn't even trying to.

Isabelle watched the last few students walk into the hall and followed behind with the head boy and her bodyguard. She could feel Draco's smirk as she walked through the entrance hall towards the great hall. She decided to ignore him as she walked through the large doors. As she entered she felt an excited intake of breath from the students. In one huge movement the entire Slytherin house stood, facing the doorway and where she stood. Each student lowered their heads towards her. Isabelle stood dumbfounded in front of them not quite understanding what was going on. Even some Ravenclaws were standing with their heads bowed. It wasn't until Draco pressed his entire body against her back and bent his head to her ear to say, 'take a seat, your highness.' That she finally caught on. She looked towards the standing people again and felt like crying yet not one of them was looking towards her. At the teachers table she saw Snape looking at her as if he was arguing with himself as to whether he should stand or not, while Professor Dumbledore simply watched everything with the most serene look upon his face and Isabelle was sure that he had just winked at her.

Isabelle looked towards the Gryffindor table to see a few giving her confused glances, Harry was smiling at her, while Ginny was once again looking at her as if trying to read her mind. Ron was however looking at her with a look that obviously said 'See, I was right.' On seeing this Isabelle quickly stepped away from Draco and marched towards the Gryffindor table, not once looking up at any of the standing people. Rupert followed quickly behind her and when they reached the table Isabelle took out her wand and conjured up a chair for him to sit on, making other students shuffle their seats down the table to make room for him, and quickly taking her own seat before the sorting started. It was only when she had sat, her back turned on all the standing students that they too sat.

The sorting was a quick process and Isabelle paid little attention to it, only noticing when the last girl, a Zephyr, Adele was sorted into Ravenclaw. She watched the Headmaster stand up and make a speech and then the feast began, of course had you asked her what was said in this speech she would not have been able to tell you a single word. Isabelle was of course one among many not listening to the sorting or Dumbledore's speech. In fact over at the Slytherin table Draco Malfoy was staring intently at Isabelle's back ignoring everyone and everything around him. He was worried, Isabelle did not seem to be succumbing to his charms as easily or as quickly as he had thought she would. Maybe it was because he still did not like her; to him she was still Pothead's best mate and a Mudblood. Her blood may have been the purest but she grew up around Muggles.

He supposed she was OK looking, in fact she actually looked vaguely good now compared to the bushy haired, know it all that she was. He knew she was still the same though, she was still a know it all, still Pothead's best mate, hell she was actually related to Pothead. This plan was to ensure that he spent the rest of his life with her; he knew that he wasn't turning on the charm enough to actually make sure that she would fall for him; he didn't actually want her to fall for him. He couldn't tell his father that though, because if he did there would be hell to pay. He guessed he would just deal with that barrier when he got to it, until then he at least knew that he could annoy the hell out of her just by keeping close, and making her eyes flash with anger and annoyance was something he lived for, something that made this whole stupid deal worthwhile.

When the feast was over Dumbledore once again stood and everyone fell silent. This time even the Heads were listening to him as he repeated several of his normal notices, the forbidden forest was forbidden, Filch had managed to find more things to ban, and finally the names of the head boy and girl. Isabelle felt the dread fill the pit of her stomach as her name was announced, her new name was of course announced and she had to stand. Dumbledore carried on talking, "Of course many of you may be wondering where Miss Granger has gone, but let me tell you she is still here but has had a little identity change Miss Labello and Miss Granger are one and the same.

At this revelation there were of course several startled gasps, mainly from the Ravenclaw table as not everyone had been informed of who Isabelle was. The Slytherin table seemed unaffected by the news, although the newer members of the table regarded her with certain awe. Those who had had older siblings in the school had of course been told that she was a mudblood and sadly also the cleverest witch in the school. Knowing the cleverest was also had the purest of blood filled them with the arrogance they had been taught to feel. Of course she was the best, how could she not be when she had the purest blood. By this time the implications of these words had been understood by the whole school or at least the clueless had been filled in by their neighbours. Isabelle felt her face turning red as many looked upon her unflinchingly while continuing to talk in heated whispers with their friends.

From across the hall she could feel Malfoy smirking at her, he had of course known this would happen. He too was of course standing, but the whispers around him affected him little after all they were not about him. He was instead studying Isabelle with an amused interest. He was in fact laughing at her pink tinged cheeks as she fought to control her embarrassment, but of course he couldn't show that on the surface. Laughing at his new found queen and wife to be was not something that he could do if he wanted his fathers' plan to work. Well ok he didn't but that didn't mean he wanted to subjected to an unforgivable repeatedly either. Making Granger…Isabelle fall for him was definitely the lesser of two very big evils. He noticed her looking at him and decided to swallow his pride and give her a smile, one that looked genuine instead of his trademark smirk. She looked at him confused for a second, just managing to stop herself from smiling back out of reflex.

Then the confused look cleared her face. Of course why wouldn't he smile at her, she was his Pure-blooded Queen, there was no longer anything about her for him to hate, even her cleverness could now be put down to the genetic make up of her blood, her hair was no longer bushy and best of all she was no longer a mudblood. In fact, she realised, her only fault, in his eyes, were her friends, and by the way they had reacted to her so far she had a feeling she would be doing her best to avoid them. Well maybe she wouldn't avoid them completely, only if they became too much for her. She supposed they would in fact start acting normal around her once they had accepted the change.

She glared at Malfoy; he had just managed to remind her of all her problems with one uncharacteristic smile. Around her people started to get to their feet as the headmaster ordered the prefects to take the students to their common rooms. The head boy and girl were summoned towards the teachers' table. As Isabelle stood she noticed a surge of movement to one side of her and realised that the Slytherins had remained seated until she stood. As she turned towards her they bowed in her direction and quickly left her presence. She made a mental note to murder Malfoy the first chance she got. As she approached the table Draco fell into step behind her.

"Well, I expect you two would like to know where your quarters are and what your password is so if you would follow me." With that Dumbledore led them out of the great hall. The walked through several corridors until they finally reached a painting of the night sky, filled with stars and a full moon. On the moon was a small man who appeared to be sleeping.

"Corbis, I have the new heads, wake up!" she man woke up and took in his surroundings. Then he stood.

"Yes, of course Headmaster, What is the new password?"

"Celestial Providence, until they choose to change it, but I would of course remind you that you may only change it if you are both here together and agree on the new password," he said turning towards the heads, "Oh and of course I would like to request that you refrain from changing the password for at least this term if possible, unless of course the password becomes public knowledge, then by all means change it." He had his usual twinkle in his eyes as he bid them farewell, still standing outside their new dorms.

Draco stood forward, "celestial providence," he said as the portrait swung forward admitting the two into a spacious common room.

Isabelle muffled her gasp; she couldn't let Malfoy think she was affected by money or luxury, although she was. The common room was beautiful; it was filled with shades of dark deep shades of red. Deep crimson couches and blood red walls, all accentuated with shades of silver. The carpets were a thick fluffy white. Isabelle actually felt her feet sink into it over in one corner was a large glass table with intricately designed silver legs, at the centre of the table was a dark red vase holding white lilies. Over the mantle piece hung a large mirror with a silver rim. She heard the door swinging shut behind her and looked round for the first time noticing that Rupert was no longer with them. In fact she didn't think he had been with them since they left the great hall. This made her feel vulnerable; after all she was now alone with Malfoy.

Draco too realised that they were alone and began to walk towards her. Isabelle resisted the urge to back away from him as he came towards her. He stopped directly in front of her, and bent his head to look into her eyes. They were a startling emerald green, a green he associated with Potty. He swallowed his sudden anger and began to speak.

"I'm going to the Slytherin common rooms, is there anything you want me to pass on to your loyal servants?" his breath was hot against her cheek. She nodded starting to get annoyed.

"Yeah tell them to stop standing up whenever I leave or enter a room, it's annoying. Although I do believe you had something to do with it in the first place." She glared at him while he smirked, his face still close to hers.

"All right, but they'll be upset, they were only showing their respect you know." He stood even closer too her so they were nose to nose but she resisted pulling back as he would think it showed fear.

"It doesn't matter, you have to tell them to stop." He only nodded staring even deeper into her eyes, he realised her eyes on closer inspection that her eyes were really nothing like Potty's, and actually they were an entire different shade. She watched her pupils dilate turning her eyes a dark forest green. He wondered what she was thinking as they stood nose to nose. He noticed her breath was hitching and finally stepped away from her unsure what he had planned to do in the first place.

"Bye then," he said as he left their common room once again.

Isabelle breathed a sigh of relief as he left. He was acting stranger than usual and it was unsettling. In fact she thought she preferred it when he had hated her, because at least then she knew where she stood. She made her way up a set of stairs to a door marked with her name. She opened the door to find a room decorated in midnight blue and silver, which were her favourite colours. In the middle of the room stood a four poster bed, there was a large wardrobe and dressing table to one side of the room and another door which she assumed led to the bathroom. Her head was pounding, and she felt grimy from the day's travel. She picked up her mint green bathrobe and night clothes and went in to have a shower.

When she came out she felt drained of the stress that had filled her the entire day. She left her bedroom and sat on one of the crimson chairs in front of the fire waiting for her hair to dry. Still wearing her robe she curled up on the couch and thought about the day. Everything that had happened filled her with a helplessness that she could do nothing to dispel. She felt the first few tears leak from her eyes despite her desperate attempts to wipe them away. She felt slightly lost, she hadn't changed on the inside, only on the outside, but everyone treated her differently, did appearances really matter so much to everyone? Ron, one of her best mates was now acting like her enemy while her worst enemy was pretending to be her best mate. She couldn't handle it, her parents first and now her friends; she felt like she had nothing from her old life left but she didn't know how to live this new one.

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The common room was packed and Draco was standing on a table. He had just delivered the message their queen no longer wanted them to stand up every time she entered or left a room. Instead he told them that they could just bow their heads. As he got off the table he was approached by Blaise and Pansy.

"What's she like mate?" his best mate asked him. Draco almost didn't know what to say.

"She's ok; she talks less which can only be called an improvement but she still acts like her usual mud… Potty's friend, the book wormself." Blaise only smirked, whereas Pansy threw herself at him, saying how sorry she was for him having to spend all his time with a mudblood. Draco felt the need to defend Isabelle. He violently threw Pansy off himself.

"Don't you dare call her a mudblood again Parkinson! Her blood is purer than yours; now get out of my sight." Pansy whimpered and ran through the gap the gathered crowds had made for her Draco marched towards the door as first years quickly shuffled away.

When he had reached the portrait of the common room, he paused, he was breathing heavily, and still angry though he wasn't quite sure why he had blown up at Pansy when he himself had almost called her a mudblood. Yet somehow he felt it was ok for him to do it as he no longer always felt the venom that used to be behind those words. Pansy deserved it in his eyes, after all, even if it was unknowingly she had just insulted his future wife, and that would not be tolerated from anyone.

"Celestial Providence," he said as the little man in the painting who had been watching him for quite some time nodded and swung forward. Draco entered and felt immediately that there was something wrong. He looked round. Curled on one of the couches in front of the fire was Isabelle, she was wearing a white bathrobe over pyjamas. As he approached her he noticed she was asleep, here breathing was laboured, and her cheeks were glistening and red in the firelight. The olive skin around her eyes was slightly puffed.

He kneeled in front of her sleeping form and gently reached a hand forward to stroke her cheek. He wiped her tears away, gently so as to not wake her. Some part of his brain realised she would be uncomfortable if she spent the night sleeping on a couch. He stood and leaned down to pick her up. He held her bridal style and was amazed at how light she was. In her sleep she nestled her head into his shoulder. He walked towards the set of stairs that led to her room and started to climb. On the third step he felt the ground shift beneath his feat. He slid down the stairs stumbling backwards as the stairs had turned into a slide. He felt himself falling backward and immediately tightened his arms around Isabelle.

Draco closed his eyes as he hit the floor, his arms securing Isabelle in place so she wouldn't be hurt. He kept his eyes closed as the pain washed over him. He slowly opened them to a wide awake Isabelle looking into his eyes while struggling against his tight hold. He let her go and she stood up quickly. He slowly started to get up and he faced her.

"What do you think your doing Malfoy? Trying to kill me wont help you know!" her voice loud and her face red, she placed both hands on his chest and pushed him back as if to make her point. Draco watched her unsure what to say as she turned and stormed up the stairs to her room, not looking back. He heard her door slam shut. He could still feel the imprint of her hands across his chest. Draco would have to work harder on the charm. Much harder.

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**(A/N): **How is it? I made this chapter much longer than usual because I may not update for a while. If you are all really good and review I might update during half term in I can find some time. I would do personal responses to reviews but I hate scrolling past replies to find the story and seeing that the replies are longer than the story, it depresses me. However if you have any questions I will reply. 

I am creating a family tree for the Labello family so any name suggestions would be great, I'm not promising to use them but I will definitely consider any suggestions. Oh just another point I won't refer to Hermione as Hermione again because she has changed her name, this is the last chapter I will do so unless I have a reason to do so.Trust meI do have my reasons.

Lots of Love

Danish

Ok so there is the fourth chapter…

You know what to do…

Review…Review…Review


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